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Out of work? What you need to know about getting health insurance

Carrens July 9, 2020

Jad Kamal lost his job and health insurance in March.

Source: Jad Kamal

In mid-March, Jad Kamal was laid off from his job as a sommelier at Lupa, an Italian restaurant in Manhattan. That meant another loss: his health insurance. 

What followed were headaches. “Sorting out Medicaid and unemployment was work,” Kamal, 36, said. “I didn’t mind putting in the effort, but the prohibitive layers of bureaucracy make you feel like they don’t actually want to help you.” 

This one-two punch of losing your paycheck and then your health insurance will be a familiar pain to many people during the coronavirus pandemic. In 2018, more than 160 million Americans received health insurance through their employer. Over the last few months, with unemployment claims exceeding 40 million, that popular pathway to coverage has quickly narrowed. 

“It’s stressful for most people right now, but particularly if you’ve been laid off and have lost coverage,” said Caitlin Donovan, a spokesperson for the National Patient Advocate Foundation, a nonprofit that helps patients access and pay for health care. 

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Unemployed and eligible for Social Security? What you need to know
More than half of Americans can’t pass a

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We will pressure governors to reopen schools amid coronavirus

Carrens July 8, 2020

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the White House plans to pressure state governors and educators to reopen schools in the fall, despite a soaring rate of coronavirus infections in several states and an overall increase nationwide. 

“We’re very much going to put pressure on the governors and the schools to reopen,” Trump said at a White House event Tuesday on school reopenings. “Open your schools in the fall,” the president told attendees, who were seated close together despite the fact that very few were wearing masks.

The question of just how to reopen schools has become one of the thorniest issues of the entire national response to the deadly pandemic.

More than 50 million children attend school in the United States, and the near blanket closures of schools this spring forced millions of parents to become teachers overnight, often on top of holding down their own full-time jobs. 

As the traditional start of the school year approaches, there are few concrete plans in place at either the state or the federal level about how to open schools safely. And as the rate of coronavirus cases has soared to record levels in the past week, parents and educators

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The U.S. needs a unified approach to tackle coronavirus, expert says

Carrens July 7, 2020

Physician John Jones, D.O. tests administrative assistant Morgan Bassin for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at One Medical in Scottsdale, Arizona, June 17, 2020.

Courtney Pedroza | Reuters

The United States needs a unified approach to tackle the rising cases of coronavirus infection and people should not get a false sense of security that a vaccine is just around the corner, infectious disease experts said on Monday. 

The U.S. recently reported a record increase in cases, with spikes seen in states that are well underway in their reopening process. Over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, Florida and Texas faced a surge of cases, leaving state and local governments struggling to gain the upper hand in containment efforts. 

Still, the rising case numbers have caused many states to change their recovery plans, delay reopening measures and re-introduce restrictions on businesses. 

“What we are seeing, certainly, is this virus (is) spreading across the states like a wildfire,” said Joshua Barocas, an assistant professor of medicine at Boston University and an infectious diseases physician at the Boston Medical Center.

He explained that states need to impose tighter restrictions on indoor gatherings. He said the surge in places like Florida and Texas

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Key phrase Ideas Generator

Carrens July 6, 2020

Though there’s elevated talk across the analysis and treatment of common mood and psychological disorders like anxiousness and depression , there’s nonetheless a number of work to be finished to raise awareness. Palin’s lawyer’s reply is way more trustworthy that Governor Palin herself. Her attorney at least acknowledges that the report discovered she violated the ethics legislation. However, Gov. Palin herself has repeatedly claimed not simply that the report is misguided or biased, however that the report says just the opposite of what it actually does say. Subsequently, she is a liar. Whether or not or not a non-monetary achieve will be enough to represent an ethics violation (because the lawyer’s reponse argues it is not) isn’t even relevant to this dialogue.

ARRRRRGH!! No it is NOT debatable! this can be a Republican-dominated council that began this investigation, hiring a well-revered Republican lawyer to do it! Enough with the false even-handedness. Sometimes, one aspect is lying more than the other. Thank god the American people are able to see which is doing that this year. On-line payday loans Р°rРµ incredibly uѕеful fРѕr whРµn payday iС• С•until fР°r away, but СѓРѕu nееd … Read more

Coronavirus on track to overwhelm Houston hospitals in two weeks, mayor says

Carrens July 6, 2020

Healthcare workers move a patient in the Covid-19 Unit at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas Thursday, July 2, 2020.

MARK FELIX

Hospitals in Houston, Texas are on track to be overwhelmed in approximately two weeks as coronavirus cases mount, Mayor Sylvester Turner said on Sunday.

“The number of people who are getting sick and going to the hospitals has exponentially increased. The number of people in our ICU beds has exponentially increased,” Turner said on CBS’s “Face The Nation.” “In fact, if we don’t get our hands around this virus quickly, in about two weeks our hospital system could be in serious, serious trouble.”

Texas hit a record number of new coronavirus cases on Saturday, reporting 8,258 people infected over 24 hours. Nearly 200,000 in the state have tested positive, according to data provided state health officials, including more than 35,000 in Harris County, which contains Houston. At least 2,608 people in the state have died of the disease. 

In Houston, the percentage of tests for the virus coming back positive has risen to nearly 25%. Turner said that people of color were being disproportionately impacted, particularly Hispanic residents. 

Turner, a Democrat, said that the main problem

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Florida and Texas report record new daily coronavirus cases

Carrens July 5, 2020

Florida and Texas hit a record number of daily coronavirus cases on Saturday, respectively reporting 11,445 and 8,258 new cases in the last 24 hours, according to figures released by the states’ health departments. 

The virus has infected more than 190,000 people in Florida and at least 3,700 people have died, and new cases in the state have increased by 67% based on a seven-day average.

The number of infections in Texas has now reached nearly 192,000 as hospitalizations there surge. Hospitals in at least two Texas counties, Starr and Hidalgo, are at full capacity and local officials are urging residents there to shelter-in-place and avoid gatherings. 

Florida reported Saturday that 14.1% of those tested for the virus were positive while Texas reported a positive rate of 13.1%, both well above the 5% threshold that the World Health Organization advises as a safe level for governments to reopen business. Those testing positive in Florida tend to be younger, with a median age of 35 as of Saturday. In Texas, available data shows a large portion of those testing positive are between 20 and 39 years old. 

Though deaths from the virus in Florida have remained on a downward trajectory, Surgeon

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